Real Madrid are not a ‘selling club’, but two of their star players could been shipped out this summer, with Arsenal and Manchester United reportedly waiting by the door.

Winger Angel di Maria and midfielder Sami Khedira have been linked with moves to United and Arsenal respectively this summer.

The arrivals of James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos for €80 million and €25m from AS Monaco and Bayern Munich respectively have sparked suggestions that Madrid will be willing to sell the duo and recoup some of the money they splashed out earlier this summer.

However, Madrid assistant coach Paul Clement has said that neither Di Maria nor Khedira will be sold this summer, explaining that head coach Carlo Ancelotti wants to retain the players’ services in order to have a strong squad.

‘As far as we know at this stage, everyone will be with us for this season’, the former Chelsea coach told talkSPORT. ‘Things can very quickly change - the window doesn’t close until the end of this month.

‘But currently we have 20 outfield players and three goalkeepers, so it is not a big, big squad. I can’t see too much movement because that is not a large squad’.

To win La Liga and the Champions League this season, Madrid do need a strong squad replete with quality, and at this moment in time they have that. But it could be because of that very reason that both Di Maria and Khedira may want to leave.

Khedira, who recovered from a long-term injury he suffered last season to help Germany win the 2014 World Cup in Brazil last month, will have to fight against Luka Modric, Xabi Alonso and Kroos among others for a place in midfield, while Di Maria could have to reinvent himself and adjust to new tactics just as he had to in 2013-14.

Di Maria and Khedira have been important players for Madrid in the past four years, helping Los Blancos win La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League during that period. But perhaps their time at the Santiago Bernabeu could come to an end this month.

Subhankar Mondal

A football journalist based in Wakefield, Subhankar Mondal has previously worked for Goal.com International and Skysports.com, and has had his sports articles published in The Guardian and The Observer. He has also been on the BBC in the past and his name once found its way to the pages of the World Soccer magazine. He was recently cited in a major Louis van Gaal biography.